Small State to Big City, Here it Is

Category: News Comments
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I chose to write my News Comment on an article from NBC News titled “To Fight the Opioid Crisis, These Doctors Cut Back on Opioids.” This article details, first, the continued danger and devastation opioid use is having in the United States. Tens of thousands of people die from opioid overdose each year, and 2 million people are addicted to them. Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has doctors that are trying their best to stop opioid addictions by changing cocktails for pain medications pre and post surgery. Studies have shown that these changes have accelerated healing processes, stopped nausea after surgery, and are working just as well as opioid drugs.

This article is important because of the news value of currency. Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency on Thursday, rocketing it into the news even more than it has been recently. Opioid addiction can often be traced back to true, necessary prescriptions that have been used beyond their intended usage. Doctors that are trying to stop the use of opioids when not necessary are also trying to put a stop to the dangerous addiction epidemic. Opioids have always been in the news, but with Trump’s recent declaration they have become more prominent and more concerning.

I chose to write my news comment on an article from Vox.com titled “Stranger Things, BoJack Horseman, and the Weird Power of Telling, Not Showing.” This article first details the second season of the hit Netflix Original Stanger Things and how it is so different in context than other television shows of today. It then begins to talk about another Netflix original, BoJack Horseman, and its animation and storyline. This second show is animated, thus allowing the writers to choose their words and the body language within the show.

This connects back to our Journalism class based on our new ideas of broadcast media. Broadcast media has many more characteristics to it than print does, allowing them to show and not tell, They have images that can show a viewer ideas through color and direct visualization, but this article hits at something different. Instead of using images to make a viewer understand subtext, writers are now having characters say directly what they mean. No guessing. Nothing lost in translation. They are beginning to use their words, just like in print, to get their point across.

I chose to write my news comment on an article from the New York Times titled “A Half-Century Later, Documents May Shed Light on J.F.K. Assassination.” This article details that the 25 years waiting period on the release of the final 1% of documents on the J.F.K. assassination is coming to an end on today. Many people in the public are excited to finally hear the rest of the story and facts about the assassination and Oswald, while many others have created conspiracy theories detailing the idea that Oswald was not working alone. Though government officials (and the official story itself) believe that Oswald was working alone, the general public still creates and believes conspiracy theories about Kennedy’s death. Because a number of documents that are going to be released are significantly small, many officials are warning the general public to not get their hopes up.

This article connects back to out Journalism class by way of original broadcasts of the assassination. Kennedy’s death was one of the first major events to be televised in homes around the country, and today it has circled back to again be the talk of the United States. The article itself is incredibly long to be created into a broadcast, but the information could be shortened and repeated to a viewer. It is national news because the original story affected many people still alive today, and this resurgence is bringing it back.

I chose to write my news comment on an article from the New York Times titled “Inside a Secretive Group Where Women are Branded.” This article details an inside story about a secret sorority based from a company named Nxivm (pronounced Nex-e-um). This group was made up of a woman, known as “Master,” and six of her “slaves.” To be able to join the group, each “slave” was required to give collateral to the group to be used as blackmail if need be. The group was run as a secret organization in order to uplift women and potentially swing election results, but in actuality was only used to promote obedience in women.

This piece connects back to our Journalism class by being classified under the News Value of bizarre/oddity. This story details a secret society where women are branded against their own will. In a world filled with many things women fear, this organization adds to it. Nxivm is a company that uses fear and control to make men and women alike obey the founder, while also exposing them of their indiscretions. This is news because this company is dangerous, and gets people’s attention.

I chose to do my news comment on a piece from the New York Times titled “California Fires Burn ‘Faster than Firefighters Can Run.‘” This article details the fires that have recently begun burning thousands of acres of across the state of California. After the beginning of major fires this weekend, they have begun sweeping across major areas of Califonia, including Sonoma Valley. Their “acres burned” content has exponentially increased. Many buildings and business (which are the last concern of fire crews at this point) have been burned down or are in danger. Thousands of people have been displaced by the fires as well.

This connects back to our class mainly with the attributions and quotes that are placed in the first few paragraphs. After the first paragraph, the writer inserted the quote “I wish I could say the Calvary is coming-it’s not” to show that these men that are fighting the fires are getting desperate and there is no help on the horizon. After this quote, it is followed with another that tells the firefighters to look to their left and rights because these are the “people [they] are responsible for right now.” They have no one, California is desperate for closure and the firefighters are desperate for this to end.

CNN Video Broadcast: The lead says “literally within the last 90 seconds the National Hurricane Center hoisting hurricane watches” makes the video grasp people’s attention by making it current. The pictures and video within the broadcast or simply showing the path of the potential Gulf Coast storm Nate. They aren’t incredibly unnerving or eye-catching, but they are informative. The reporter keeps using terms like “life-threatening,” “breaking,” and “at the very least” which seems to be subjective. He is telling the storm to entertain while informing them.

NBC Written Story: The lead for this piece says “Tropical Storm Nate is winding up to wallop the Gulf coast this weekend,” which creates almost the same urgency that the video broadcast’s lead does. Within this story, the reporters talk about the rains, while in the video the reporter talked about the winds. This is not the same content but is about the same storm. This story also places emphasis on the states of emergency other than the potential threat the storm is making to the Gulf Coast. This source also uses many quotes that are each attributed to their sources, where the video only used the National Hurricane Center as source and attribute. Though this piece used more quotes, each source attributed their sources within their stories.

I chose to write my news comment on an article from Vox.com titled “Iran’s President Used His UN Speech to Insult Trump.” This article details both Trump’s speech aimed to criticize the Iranian government and the rebuttal from the Iranian President. Both speeches insulted the Presidents of the latter country, the US government being called “rogue newcomers” and the Iranian government being called a “corrupt dictatorship.” This piece went on to say that the two Presidents, while trying to promote peace between each other, caused their countries to become more offset.

This article relates back to our class with the fact that there are many long quotes within this article itself. These quotes were not taken from interviews, but were spoken by the President’s during their speeches and are now being quoted. This use of these quotes is almost overbearing and difficult to read, but they also add substance to the piece. While we continue to learn more about embedding quotes into articles, this piece can serve as both a good and bad example of quotation usage.

I decided to write my news comment on an article from the New York Times titled “In Angela Merkel, German Women Find Symbol, but Not Savior.” This article is about the female chancellor who has been reelected to serve Germany three times and is vying for a fourth term this week. Though Merkel has been chancellor of Germany for years, there is still a sexual prejudice throughout the country in working women. This is especially concentrated in women with families. Merkel has been avid about not using the word “feminist” and has been stagnant in paving the way for greater women’s rights.

This article relates to what we have been talking about as a class because it correlates with the idea of what people say or don’t say using the media having an effect on social behaviors. Because the chancellor herself is not pushing for greater women’s rights and there is no example for other women to follow, men and women are stuck in a perpetual track of sexual dominance led by men.

I chose to write my news comment this week on an article titled “Democrats Begin Legal Assault on Trump’s Move to End ‘Dreamer’ Program.” This article detailed the organization DACA that Trump is intending to disband beginning in May and the 16 Democratic attorneys general’s lawsuits that are being processed and threatened. DACA is an organization dedicated to protecting children who were brought into the states illegally. These children, if deported, would have nowhere to go because their only home ever is the United States. With the disbandment of DACA that Trump is proposing, thousands of children or illegal immigrants that came to the states as children and are now in the workforce and are paying taxes would be deported and left homeless . and without their families. These Democratic attorney generals are fighting for the kids and the program put in place by Obama to protect them.

This story relates back to Morningside’s students and faculty based on the fact that we have students attending this college that are from 11 countries. Though all of these students are here legally and will not be deported based on this ban, it is still a major priority and an expectation of Morningside to be accepting of every individual that crosses our threshold, no matter their background, religion, age, or anything else. The end of DACA, as Trump is proposing, will be the example that will show that inclusion and acceptance are not all important and does not need to be tolerated. For this piece, the main audience would be everyone who is interested in the progression of the case, whether or not they are for or against DACA.

I chose to write my News Comment on an article from Vox.com titled “Study: A Universal Basic Income would Grow the Economy.” This article detailed a study that is examining the role that a universal income within the United States would play within the lives of citizens. A Roosevelt study and a study conducted at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio in Italy details the roaring effects this could potentially have on the economy. Though protestors of the idea claim that offering a universal income will lower the amount of working Americans within the country, these two studies predict that it will actually raise the working class from 4.5 million to 4.7 million. By potentially offering both children and adults a basic income (the lowest amount being $3,000/year and the largest being $12,000) the economy could potentially grow and stay large.

This is news and relates to our journalism class based on the fact that the students at this school are most likely in debt, hoping to find a career within the field of their major. We, as a student body, would benefit greatly from an increase in economic stability and the creation of a universal basic income. As to the rest of the country, this is news because it could potentially be groundbreaking in the fight against poverty and in the creation of a larger working force. While it is only a potential fix to a very large and all-encompassing problem, the creation of a universal basic income could be a potential lifesaver.